The Chicago Cubs are already down their trade deadline rotation upgrade. Right-hander Michael Soroka, who came over from the Washington Nationals in a three-player trade last week, exited Monday’s game (CIN 3, CHC 2) with shoulder discomfort and is headed to the injured list. Soroka was two innings into his first start with the Cubs.
“He said he let a pitch go in the second inning and just didn’t feel good. Finished the inning, but came into the dugout and said his shoulder was not feeling good, so it’s an IL,” manager Craig Counsell said (via the Associated Press). “… I don’t think we should speculate (on the severity of the injury). It’s an IL and the doctors will take a look and then we’ll go from there.”
Soroka’s fastball velocity has been trending down in recent weeks and it bottomed out with a 90.5 mph average Monday. He did not throw a pitch faster than 91.5 mph. Up until the middle of June, Soroka averaged just north of 94 mph with his heater.
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This is Soroka’s first full season as a starting pitcher since 2019, when he was the NL Rookie of the Year runner-up with the Atlanta Braves. Injuries, most notably a pair of Achilles tears, limited Soroka 125 ⅔ innings from 2020-24. Soroka missed two months with a shoulder strain last year and a month with a biceps strain earlier this year.
The Cubs failed to acquire a high-end starter at the trade deadline, though, to be fair, few quality starters changed teams. Merrill Kelly, Shane Bieber (currently injured), and maybe Charlie Morton were the only starters traded who can comfortably be expected to start a postseason game. Sandy Alcantara, Zac Gallen, and others stayed put.
With Soroka heading to the injured list, Chicago’s rotation depth chart currently looks like this:
LHP Justin Steele(out for 2025 with Tommy John surgery)- LHP Matthew Boyd
- LHP Shota Imanaga
RHP Jameson Taillon(out with calf strain)RHP Javier Assad(out with oblique strain)- RHP Cade Horton
RHP Michael Soroka(out with shoulder discomfort)- RHP Colin Rea
- LHP Jordan Wicks
Assad and Taillon have both begun minor-league rehab assignments and are expected back fairly soon. Horton, it should be noted, has already thrown 102 ⅔ innings this year. He was limited to 34 ⅓ innings by a shoulder issue last season and his career high is the 88 ⅓ innings he threw in 2023. The Cubs will have to monitor the young righty’s workload the rest of the way.
Soroka turned 28 earlier this week and has a 4.87 ERA in 83 ⅓ innings spanning 17 starts this season. Those 83 ⅓ innings are his most since 2019. The Nationals signed him to a one-year, $9 million contract last offseason and traded him to the Cubs for outfielder Christian Franklin and infielder Ronny Cruz. MLB Pipeline ranks them as Washington’s No. 11 and 13 prospects, respectively.
In addition to Soroka, the Cubs also added righty Andrew Kittredge and lefty Taylor Rogers at the trade deadline to reinforce the bullpen. Super utility man Willi Castro was brought in as well. The Cubs are 65-47 and three games behind the molten hot Milwaukee Brewers in the NL Central.
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